InuYasha's Elder Sister
by Ghostly Hand's Pen
Summary: Summary is in the title! Miroku's wind tunnel has bedridden him so InuYasha picks the time to reveal someone from his past who could help them. Visit InuYasha's home and that sort of thing. This story is my baby so review and tell me what you think!
1. Poison

**Disclaimer:** Guess what everybody! I'm the creator of InuYasha! Yaaay! I completely own InuYasha! And Sesshomaru is my manservent! And that's where my dream ends... all I own is my InuYasha plushi doll, and my Kagome plushi doll, and my Sesshoumaru plushi doll, and my Kilala plushi doll!

**Author's Note:** Hey everybody! The summary is in the title so I'm not going to hide the fact that I gave InuYasha a sister. (InuYasha: W-what? Ghostly Hand's Pen: That's right InuYasha! I am your mother! Bwhahahaha! And Sesshomaru is my sex slave -er, manservent! Bwhahaha!) Anyway, InuYasha's sister doesn't show up until chapter three, which is currently saved in my Word program half complete. So that brings us to reviewing... PPPPPPPPPLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSEEEE!! Please review! I don't care if you say brown hair makes me look fat (Ghostly Hand's Pen: How do you know what I look like? You: Because Ghostly Hand's Pen...I. Am. Your. Father! Ghostly Hand's Pen: NNNNOOOOOOOO!!!) or if you just want to tell me my writing sucks and bunnies are cute. I'll accept it all! Now without further to do...

**InuYasha's Elder Sister**

**Part I. Poison**

The whole world had turned into a miasma filled land. Air that was once was now choked with a black polluted haze that only the beasts could breathe. The trees had become gray skeletal tombstones that marked where the living had long ago decomposed into the black earth. Buildings had become the rotted remains of something no one could any longer remember. Inside the swirling black air was an evil figure. The figure laughed a retching sound that was inhuman yet scared even the beasts. This is what Miroku, the cursed monk, saw in his nightmares. The tall dark haired monk stood and stared with his dark eyes at the shadows of the miasma. He could feel his lungs close choke on the poisonous air. When the figure of the dead land turned on him it stared at him through the black winds with red eyes from the cold blood of demons. It was those eyes that pierced him as their owner was suddenly choking his neck with cold stone hands.

"Can you breathe, monk?" The demon, Naraku, taunted. Then suddenly bringing his face close to his own he whispered, "Is it the wind tunnel? I've let you keep your filthy life for sometime. Don't you think after twenty-eight years I should get what you owe me?"

Miroku felt cold claws pierce his throat ready to kill him whenever he felt the need.

"You will die here like all before you. Die in my land!" Naraku screeched again.

Miroku gasped desperately for air but nothing came. He tried to scream but only a choked cough formed in his throat. He desperately clawed Naraku's cold hands from his neck but he was no match. Dead skin tore away under his nails as he scratched but Naraku took no notice. He only laughed.

Then black dots began to form in Miroku's vision. Blotting out his world as he was nearing death. The terrible swirling haze around them turned into a storm and wind thundered in his ears. But over the torrent a familiar voice was suddenly at the back of his head.

The voice was muffled and distant but it felt familiar. He couldn't comprehend the words but they sounded worried. Worried for him? He heard a few words that were "waking up" and "move" but what did they mean again? Had he ever known? He couldn't remember. Who was speaking? _I think I know this voice,_ he thought hazily. Or maybe he was delirious. Maybe there was no voice. Then everything went black and he thought it was for the last time.

_Sango…_ His mind whispered suddenly.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

By sunrise a tall half demon with keen golden eyes and long silver hair was just getting up. He yawned groggily as he glanced at the two women who had already been up for some time. Fifteen year old Kagome and sixteen year old Sango. The two both had long dark hair and striking brown eyes. Shippo, the young fox demon, was hanging around somewhere with the two-tailed Kilala. All they were waiting on was that lazy monk Miroku. Then they could pack up camp and head off for the day.

The night before the group of travelers had found a small one-room cabin that had been abandoned for some time. In feudal Japan, abandoned cabins made the best shelters for weary travelers in the dead of night. So they spent the night.

InuYasha was just putting out the last of the early morning campfire when he glanced at the rundown cabin where Miroku still slept.

"Is he awake yet? We still have to get through the last of this forest," InuYasha said irritably.

Sango gave a concerned glance at the cabin, "He has been asleep for quite awhile."

"Yeah he even missed breakfast!" Pitched in Shippo as he dashed to the cabin doorway and peered inside. He shot everyone a scheming smile and crept in without a sound. A moment later in a screaming frenzy intent on waking Miroku, Shippo jumped into the air and landed square on Miroku's chest screaming, "HEY MIROKU GET UP! GET UP! IT'S TIME TO GET UUUUUUUUUUPPP!"

Miroku set up - shocked out of his sleep - began yelling at Shippo. And poor little Shippo began to run for his life. He would take shelter behind Kagome. And no one wants to be in Kagome's way when she gets angry. Then a short time later the team would leave for the nearest village.

…Or this is probably what would have happened had things been normal.

Miroku cried out a raspy yell and pushed Shippo off his chest along with the thin blanket he was using. Shippo cautiously watched him cough for a moment in innocent bewilderment not quite sure what was going on. Miroku's coughing spell continued until he hawked up a little blood into the palm of his hand and rolled back over on his back. His breath was short and uneasy. Beads of sweat settled his forehead and lined his black hair in fine drops.

"Miroku…?" Little Shippo whimpered as the shock settled. Then all at once Shippo quickly jumped to his feet, grabbed Miroku's blanket, and slung it back over him. Then he dashed outside to tell what he had witnessed.

"Something is wrong with Miroku! He's not waking up! Something's wrong!" He said all at once.

"What are you saying, Shippo?" Asked Kagome as Shippo climbed in his usual spot on her shoulder. Sango wasted little time; she was up and inside the shack before Shippo could spill out his story.

A moment later Kagome, InuYasha, and Shippo had all entered. What they saw was Sango sitting over a limp Miroku. Next to them was a little splattered blood and the monk's long golden staff.

Sango turned on them sharply but with tears in the corners of her eyes and shouted, "He's not _waking up_! He won't _move!"_

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

A small fire crackled in the quite night. InuYasha stared at the blaze intently. The group had put off their travels when they found out Miroku was ill. His black eyebrows had slipped into a dark frown. _All this time…and Miroku never said a word. _He thought back to the night before. _Was Miroku sick last night? Why hadn't he told them? _He had never said a word to anyone about a sickness. And now…Miroku could be fatally ill.

Kagome stepped out of the cabin and suppressed a yawn. Miroku was in no shape to go anywhere and because they were camping in the middle of a demon-infested forest Kagome and Sango's combined medical knowledge was the closest thing to doctors for miles. InuYasha looked up at her expectantly for about a split second then went back to scowling at the fire.

"It'd be best if you got some rest," InuYasha muttered in his harsh tone.

Kagome didn't say anything. She stood stone still for nearly a minute before she moved. She walked over and sat by InuYasha. She laid her head on his shoulder. He didn't move. He only watched the fire as it burned and ate away at the brushwood and sticks they had hastily gathered. Neither of them said a word, they both were going over today's events in their heads. InuYasha glanced up at the night sky and said in a hushed tone, "It's nearly morning again…"

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"He's not _waking up_! He won't _move!"_

The next hour seemed to have been jumbled together as one long second. Everything happened so fast. Miroku coughing up blood. Dark terrifying blood that splattered everywhere in thick puddles. There was so much blood…

And what had happened to Miroku? What made him so sick? Why didn't Miroku say something? They could have helped. They could have helped!

Miroku's chest heaved up and down in an awkward motion and his breath was short and heavy gasps. He lay on his back under all the blankets they could find but it still didn't keep him from shaking uncontrollably. Sango was wiping his forehead with a damp cloth. He had a dangerous fever way above normal and yet he shook uncontrollably like he was ice.

Miroku slowly opened his eyes and glanced at Sango. His chest still heaved and shuddered restlessly.

"S-s-s-an…oh." Miroku managed to drag the words out between gasps.

"Shhh…" Sango said soothingly, "Don't try to speak."

"S-s-an-'' Miroku tried again but had another coughing episode. He sat up throwing off the cover and puked. A lot of it was blood. His own blood in heavy thick drops that stained the sheets. Miroku sat back he gave a weary look at Sango. His face was pale as a ghost and his eyes were rimmed red. Then those big black eyes weakly closed and he fell back in a faint.

…_Miroku!_

Sometime later InuYasha and Kagome ran the last few miles to the nearest town as quickly as possible. They had no medical supplies that came anywhere near what they needed to help Miroku and even if they did they would need a doctor. But Miroku was in no condition to travel so the doctor would have to come to them. They searched the village but not one doctor could make it into the forest. Not one would enter the deadly land ruled by demons. They had found an old woman who was a herbalist and Kagome brought back as many herbs as she could carry. They could only hope they would work. This was the best either of them could do.

Sango was the only one who never left Miroku's side. She watched over him when he was asleep and continued to wet the damp cloth on his head. She sat with him when he was in pain and when he screamed with agony. Twice more he got sick and puked. And twice he fainted back into a heavy sleep.

When Kagome and InuYasha returned Kagome used the herbs and made a concoction in little time. They poured it down Miroku's throat and he weakly swallowed and fell back into his deep sleep. Now all they could do was watch over him and wait.

Hours later Miroku opened his eyes.

"S-Sango…" he said hoarsely.

"Miroku…?" Sango whispered quietly as she cautiously moved closer to his side. Miroku's deep dark eyes slid shut and then opened quickly like he was fighting to stay awake. He gazed at her a moment as if unsure what was going on.

"Are you feeling any better?" Sango asked softly.

Miroku ignored the question, "I have to… tell you," he wheezed between gasps. _Kagome's medicines seem to have helped him._ Sango thought happily. But Miroku was still very weak.

"I have… to tell you," Miroku tried again, "That…I'm going to die…"

"No," Sango hissed, "You'll make it through this. You're just a little ill. You'll be better soon."

Sango felt for his hand and when she found it she squeezed it reassuringly. Miroku flinched and his deep black eyes looked up at her pleadingly.

"No Sango…this isn't a…cold… It's the…wind tunnel."

A cold shiver ran up Sango's spine. She needed no more explanation. It was the moment they all dreaded. The time they had all pushed from their minds hoping it would never come. Except Miroku. Miroku who used the wind tunnel as a weapon and who always smiled as if it was no big deal. Maybe Miroku never forgot about the terrible curse in his left hand. The curse that would kill him like it did his father and his grandfather. Sango let his hand fall back to the bed.

"No…Miroku NO! What about Mushin! The monk! We can bring him here and he can–"

"S-Sango…" Miroku rasped. He shook his head weakly, "I visited Mushin recently…told no one… he said…I…was getting worse…It is beyond his help…now," Miroku sighed.

Sango shook her head stubbornly. She was faintly aware of her eyesight blurring - _was she crying?_ - she wasn't aware of her hands were shaking as she said, "There has to be someone - we'll find you help!"

"Sango," Miroku's raspy voice whispered, "We don't…know where Naraku is…and I give myself…about a week." He coughed and wheezed a bit more. "Please don't spend my last weak worrying," He raised a hand to her wet cheek and brushed it soothingly, "Or crying… I have made peace…with death."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"It's nearly morning again…" InuYasha's voice trailed off.

Sango stepped outside in a daze. Kagome saw her and sat up rigid, suddenly alert. It was the first time she had seen Sango away from Miroku since morning. Already she had a sinking feeling in her gut. _Had the potions worked? Had the potion done anything at all?_ She noticed Sango's wet cheeks and realized she had been crying and grimly Kagome thought her deepest fear. _Did Miroku die?_

Shippo and Kilala snored peacefully next to the fire, blissfully unaware of the worries that surrounded them.

Even InuYasha could feel the tension. He tore his eyes away from the fire and for a second his and Sango's eyes met.

Sango looked at them. InuYasha and Kagome. Together. Shippo and Kilala sleeping soundly by the fire. She took it all in. It seemed she was in her own world. Cut off from everyone. She saw Kagome's mouth moving but couldn't hear her words. _Was she still crying?_ Everything seemed so muffled. Even the night sounds around her. It felt that she was a stranger watching a scene play out before her. She felt a lump form in her chest. A heavy lump that seemed to be born of all her emotions she wished she didn't have. There was sadness with the feeling of hopelessness and rising quickly was…fear. Suddenly she saw herself bursting. Bursting with the story of what had happened. She could see herself screaming it out and falling to her knees so terrified of the unshielded truth that lay before her. Sango swallowed no longer able to keep everything in. She burst and the scene played before her eyes and the next thing she knew she was crying in Kagome's arms. That numbing feeling of the lump in her chest was the last thing she remembered.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

InuYasha was lying lazily on his back keeping watch from the roof of the tiny cabin. The dark sky was beginning to retreat making way for the sun to begin to rise over the eastern horizon. Miroku's words still ringed in his ears.

"I've accepted my death. It is apparent I was not destined to go on. I only want to spend my last hours here with my friends."

By now Miroku had almost made a full recovery and, if he wanted, could even manage to walk. The only thing Kagome's medicine couldn't cure was the poison gushing in that hand of his…

InuYasha's sharp ears picked up Sango's voice from below. Her voice was always softer when she was worried about something and she was using that strange accent that sometimes slipped out when she was tense. His demon like ears were catching every word of the conversation being carried out in the warm hut below him. Miroku was talking in his hoarse voice. Everyone was down in the hut but the conversation seemed to be between only Miroku and Sango. InuYasha forced himself to focus on what they were saying. Sango was stubborn; she refused to accept the fact that there was no one left who could do anything for Miroku. No matter what Miroku said. _That's Sango, tougher than any demon._ Then he thought back to earlier when Sango was crying helpless in Kagome's arms trying to sob out her story.

"Miroku. Do you know what you're asking of us? You're saying we should just stand by and watch you die like it's nothing. Like you aren't…a part of us."

"Sango-"

"We are all that any of us have! Don't you see? We can't just watch you die from the sidelines, we have to stick together to keep each other going."

Sango's words seemed to hang in the still air. InuYasha looked up at the stars intently. His mind was racing. Sango was right. How could he just be sitting up here? How could any of them just sit back and watch Miroku die? A memory came to InuYasha then. An old one he had forgotten but now he could remember every detail clear as the cool night air. The night his mother died…

_It was a long time ago, back when he was only a few years old, he had found a tall tree and sat on the tallest branch he could reach that could take his small weight and stared up at the midnight sky. It was way past his bedtime – back when he still had a bedtime – but no one could say 'no' on tonight. His young but expert ears heard an unnatural rustling in the trees and he looked down. A young girl – older than himself - was making her way expertly up to him. She leaped the distance that took his small limbs forever in just a few seconds. Then she sat beside him. Not on the same branch, he looked at her jealously as he saw she was one tree limb higher than he was. At first she said nothing, only looking up at the sky. After a minute she brought her eyes down and looked at him. She had golden eyes just like his own, just like Sesshomaru, just like their father. Her perfect swirling braided hair had come undone and it hung down in white strands by her elfishly pointed ears._

_Then she smiled the biggest flakiest grin he'd ever seen. But he looked at her puffy eyes and red cheeks and smiled back just for her sake. That night was the last time he'd ever see her cry. She laid her slender hand across his frail shoulders and pointed up at the sky. _

"_Do you see those stars there?" she asked cheerfully. He nodded as he tried to figure out what she meant._

"_And those?" she pointed just to the left of the first cluster of stars. Instead of waiting for an answer she scooped his small body up from his spot and pulled him up on her lap. She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug as he gazed up at the night sky. _

"_They are called Canis Major and Canis Minor." She pronounced the words with an educated skill she had practiced hard for._

"_It means Big Dog and Little Dog, InuYasha-chan," she looked away from the stars for a second and smiled down at InuYasha, "They are constellations, do you know what those are?" She asked sweetly. She watched the small half demon nod his head slightly._

"_Because they were so great," she continued in fake enthusiasm, " the gods from the old mythology stories placed the images of Canis Major and Canis Minor up in the sky forever," the female half-demon tightened her hold on InuYasha. He felt a wet drop hit his hand and looked up at her. He noticed she was crying but at the same time she was looking blissfully up at the stars and ignoring the tears that ran down her cheeks._

"_Even today Canis Major and Canis Minor are still up there. Like great dog demons they're looking after each other and are protecting anyone who is lost and needs a way." A cold wind blew through the trees and together the two of them shivered. It was a long time before she spoke again. When she did her voice was strong like she was no longer talking about the mythology of stars._

"_InuYasha, I want you to understand this." He felt her nervously try to smooth out his long wind blown hair that would probably forever be a matted mess._

"_It's just the two of us now, InuYasha. That means we have to stick together. Like Canis Major and Canis Minor, we have to stick together"- The girl pulled back her hand and covered her eyes but through the midnight darkness InuYasha was still able to see tears run down her cheeks-" to help each out and to keep the other living on... Because after tonight we are all each other has. It's just going to be the two of us… Do you understand what has happened, InuYasha? Do you understand what I am trying to tell you?" _

_He remembered looking up at her eyes. Her gold eyes seemed full of so much sorrow. She was crying. _

_Maybe he hadn't understood… when he said he did. After that night the world changed to a cruel and dark place. Maybe all he wanted was to see things go back to the way they were. He hadn't understood then._

"_Don't cry anymore, sister, I understand, Setsuna." He said in his childish voice._

_Maybe now was the first time he really understood the meaning of that night._

_Setsuna looked down into his eyes and smiled to him full of relief._

_He hadn't understood then, but he did now._

Then what was he still sitting for? What in the hell was he doing?


	2. Still Hope

**Disclaimer: **Sorry lawyers who want to sue me, I still do not own InuYasha.

**Author's Note: **Yaaaay! Part 2! Still no sister, but in this chapter you get a _smell_ of her! You'll see what I mean. Anyway, I'm so happy someone liked my story enough/ was bored enough/ hates my story enough that they just want to see what I have for part 2.

**InuYasha's Elder Sister**

**Part II. Still Hope**

InuYasha stomped into the hut. He took in the scene around him in a second. Miroku looked much better but his face was still pale. He was sitting up in the makeshift bed made for him. Kagome and Shippo were sitting at his side. Sango was off to her own holding a tiny Kilala in her arms. Her large boomerang of a weapon was leaning against the rotting wood of the hut. They all stared at InuYasha full of surprise.

Miroku had been talking. He was answering what Sango had said but stopped mid-sentence when InuYasha entered. For some reason the world had come to a halt at that moment. InuYasha didn't care he had one thing to say and nothing was going to change his mind about it. His gold eyes firmly held everyone's gaze.

He looked and spoke directly to Miroku, "You're not going to die," he stated stubbornly.

Miroku sighed deeply and even InuYasha could sense the atmosphere shift to a little more relaxed mood. _Damn it!_ Thought InuYasha as he suddenly remembered he was never good with words, the only persuasion he'd practiced was with brute force. But Miroku's voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts, "InuYasha please, I thought at least you would understand. It's impossible. Please, as a last wish –"

"Enough with this last wish crap!" He shouted now finally losing patience. "Is this how you really want to die?! To die in a miserable little hut without ever getting back at Naraku for all the terrible things he's done?" Then he stated in a quieter voice, "Miroku, since when do you give up this easily?"

Miroku looked angry now. At least some of the color was coming back to his face. His fists were clenched tightly to the point where his knuckles turned white. Sango and Kagome stared at him like he was out of his mind. Shippo who had been asleep was startled awake. Even Kilala's big demon eyes looked upon him with uncertainty.

Then of all things that could have happened, Miroku stood up. He stood on his shaky legs without any help nor did anyone dare reach out to him. Once he gained his balance he tried to walk across the room. He must have been in worse shape than he let on because by the time he had neared InuYasha he was breathing deeply and cold sweat began to drip down his forehead. He moved slowly. Very weakly he limped over to InuYasha, who stood firmly still. Not once did either of them lower their gaze from the other's determined eyes.

It took Miroku a minute but when he reached InuYasha they stood eye to eye. Both stood rigid, neither one said a word. In fact, everyone was still. Only watching. Miroku gave InuYasha a cold resistant stare then he began to speak.

"I can never forgive Naraku for what he has done to me. He has killed both my father and my grandfather. Now he wants my life. There's nothing more I want in this world than to kill him. After all the lives he's devastated. After all the destruction he's caused I can never forgive him. And this curse, my entire life it has haunted me. The day of my own death looming over my head ever since I was able to know the meaning of it. So you can't stand here and call me weak. Not when you can go on and I can barely stand! Not you and not anybody else! I haven't given up. I'll never give up. Things have only changed. I would much rather stay where I am, with those I care about, than to go searching for the one thing I despise more deeply than anything in this world."

Not a word was spoken between them. Everyone had gone silent. There were no sounds except the serene chirping of insects outside. Minutes ticked by before InuYasha turned away. He laid his hand on the doorframe of the hut and said:

"I understand. But I still can't stand back and do nothing. I was thinking outside when I remembered someone I knew a long time ago. Someone I think may be able to help." Then he walked out leaving Miroku standing in silence.

Sango was the first one to act. She at once jumped up and followed InuYasha outside.

"InuYasha," she hissed, "What was all of that about?"

InuYasha stopped walking. He stood still with his back to her. The campfire was reduced to a small blaze quietly eating away at a few twigs.

"I know someone – up in the mountains – who is skilled with medicines. I think they can help."

"Then I'm coming with you!" she shouted.

"No," InuYasha said firmly.

"For Miroku, I am coming with you!"

InuYasha whirled around his demon eyes looked more demonic than usual in the poor light, "For Miroku, stay here."

Just looking at Sango one could tell she was still too upset to be thinking straight. She shook her head stubbornly and choked back a sob.

"Then I will go with you," softly whispered a voice from behind them. Sango whirled around to see Kagome standing in the doorway. She looked weary from the long day and night.

"You stay here and be with Miroku."

Sango stared bleary eyed at Kagome. _Of course,_ _she's right_, the more logical part of her mind told her. But she couldn't think of sitting helplessly by Miroku's side. Slowly watching him die. All of her instincts told her to run. Run away from all of this and never stop. _As if running would change things, _she thought miserably to herself.Sango took a deep breath and closed her eyes trying her best to regain her composure. She felt Kagome's eyes staring at her and InuYasha's on her back. _She's right_, she told herself again, _they're both right_. It is better this way, and she could defend Miroku against demons better than Kagome could. For another minute she allowed herself to attempt to regain control of her racing thoughts.

_Don't be afraid_, she told herself. _Don't be afraid._ She said it again hoping it would give her back her courage. But it didn't work after a minute she still felt like crying and running. Like a little child. But no one would deny Sango had more people suddenly ripped from her life than any of them. Her family, friends, her village and home were all taken. All that was left of the demon slayer legacy lay within the memories of her and her little brother, Kohaku. And where was Kohaku?

After awhile Sango nodded and her eyes opened wide. In her strongest voice she said, "Take Kilala with you. She will get you where you need to go faster. Then come back and make Miroku better."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

InuYasha and Kagome left with Kilala the minute the sun rose. It took little time to gather their things. Kagome had emptied her bright yellow bag of anything from the 21st century, leaving bandages and ointments with Sango, and grabbed her bow and quiver that was filled with newly made stone tipped arrows. She also did a quick search for herbs that would heal if anything were to happen. Miroku strongly was against them leaving from the start. He threatened that by the time they returned he wouldn't be waiting. But under the circumstances he probably would have been powerless to fend off little Shippo let alone InuYasha. But Miroku was right; they had no way to know when the wind tunnel would react. Time was one thing they didn't have.

Kagome leaned into InuYasha and dozed sleepily. His white hair mixed with her own black and danced together in her face as Kilala zoomed through the sky. The sun had taken it's noon positioning high over head and Kilala was keeping an extremely quick pace. In the short hours they had been traveling the small group had covered a massive distance and passed through several mountains yet not one seemed to be the one InuYasha was looking for.

Kagome idly wondered what everyone was doing back at the hut and who is this person that can help Miroku? InuYasha had said nothing about them.

"InuYasha," she whispered unable to contain her curiosity a moment longer.

"Yeah?" he was staring persistently ahead. His gaze was unreadable and impenetrable. She half heartily wondered why. Kilala did not need to be directed. She knew the skies well.

"Who is this person you say can help Miroku? You didn't say anything about them."

There was no answer from InuYasha. She opened her eyes and looked up at his stern face. Kilala gave a slow growl in agreement like she too was wondering the same thing. Time passed but still no one said a word. Kilala's powerful long legs ran through the air as lavish hills and fields passed below them.

Finally InuYasha spoke up, "It's been at least fifty years," he muttered sheepishly. The fact suddenly dawned on her. It was true, six or seven months ago InuYasha had been sealed to the thousand year old tree, anyone who knew him before then wasn't likely to still be around let alone the same place he last knew them.

"So you're saying…" Kagome was unable to finish her sentence. Lots of things can change in fifty years.

"I was hoping no one would notice, I wasn't going to say anything. It's a slim chance, I know, but it's all we have to go on. It's possible she won't be around when we get there either if she's dead or just gone."

Kagome silently made a quick note. '_She?'_ she wondered. _If she's a human it's very unlikely she is still alive. But if she's a demon…_ Kagome shook her head of all the negative thoughts. They couldn't lose hope so early in the journey. Miroku was counting on them!

"Okay, never mind that. Nothing's definite. Tell me who… _she_ is then."

InuYasha's ears flinched. A sort of tension hung in the air as they waited for InuYasha to tell the story he had kept secret. After a moment he gulped and began his tale: "Uhhh…"

Kagome gave him a worried glance, "Is… she a doctor?" Kagome asked hopefully. InuYasha began to laugh but stopped when he realized how ill humored it was, "Sort of," he mumbled weakly. Kagome's heart sank; this was going nowhere fast.

A couple minutes later Kagome, despite herself, was wondering if this was a bad decision after all. She thought of what Sango would do if she was here. _Probably split InuYasha's scull open_, she smiled weakly at the image of Sango splitting InuYasha's head open with her Hiraikosu. Then her thoughts turned to Miroku and her heart suddenly became very heavy. Miroku who was so greatly depending on them. And who they had assured he would see them again. And who they promised would have his life back. Had they failed him?

But then InuYasha's voice rose, "I wouldn't be out here if I didn't think there was a chance."

Kagome looked up at him. His sharp features were stressed into a stubborn look and his long white hair blew in the breeze. Suddenly his golden eyes looked down at her in a questioning glance. She smiled softly when she looked into them, "I know," she whispered.

InuYasha returned his gaze back to the sky. Kagome watched him a moment and then smiled when she saw the confident look back on his face.

They flew far north. Farther north than any place Kagome had yet to travel with InuYasha too. When she asked him, InuYasha only said they were destined for a tiny mining village in a mountain at Japan's northernmost edge. So on the tiny group flew scarcely stopping for rest. Until they came to a soft green mountain peak with a majestic undisturbed forest that covered its sloping sides. And on the opposite side of the mountain, in a valley-like dip of land, lay a small town. In the afternoon lighting it had a peaceful beauty the group rarely saw in the warring times.

For a second Kagome leaned forward on Kilala's back to look at the small village more. She quickly glanced back at InuYasha and he too looked at the village in awe. Almost unaware, he nodded to himself. Kilala must have sensed the motion because she gave a happy purr when she realized that was the place of their destination and took a soft dive.

"Wait!" InuYasha hissed suddenly. Kilala came to a rapid halt and Kagome looked back at him surprised.

InuYasha shook his head nervously, "Kilala can you skip the village and land on the far side?" He pointed to a region of thick trees, "Around where those strange trees are?"

After a moment Kilala gave a disappointed growl from deep in her throat and began to move in the direction InuYasha had instructed.

Kagome gave a quick look at the peaceful town, "InuYasha what's wrong with the town?" she protested, "Isn't that person living there?"

"No, she doesn't live in the town."

Again Kagome turned around and looked at InuYasha behind her. She noticed he was sniffing the air. After a second or two InuYasha gave a relieved grin.

"That's her scent alright. Good ol' Setsuna, still around after all this time."


	3. Home Again

**Author's Note & Disclaimer:** Guess what happened three days ago!!!! My 30 hours of Driver's Ed ended! Yaaaay!!! I'm so excited I feel like a little happiness fairy came down and gave me three more hours to my day! Domo Arigato Gozaimasu, Happinessu Fueri. San more hours arimasu! Bonsai! And that was Ghostly Hand's Pen's Little Corner of Bad Japanese. Anyway I was working almost nonstop for the past two days to make up for the fact that I've been locked in my Driver's Ed classroom for the past two weeks (it's really creepy that there are no clocks in that whole building. I looked for two weeks and I didn't find one). Okay I forgot the point I was going to make so it's probably best if you just go on and read the story. I don't own InuYasha. I don't even own Setsuna's name... I stole it from the Sailor Moon manga so I guess I better add I don't own Sailor Moon either. (it just seemed to fit so well it was almost scary! It's mysterious, a girl's name, and it begins with a 'Se' and ends with an 'Uh' - a good hybrid of InuYasha and Sesshomaru's names.)

**InuYasha's Elder Sister**

**Part III. Home Again**

They landed out of sight of anyone, at the time Kagome didn't recognize this as anything peculiar. Then Kilala transformed into her familiar kitty form and happily took her place in Kagome's arms. InuYasha fidgeted slightly. Kagome on the other hand was excited. Soon they would find the person who could save Miroku. Everything would be okay.

InuYasha soon found a gravel trail and called her over. It was a long trail that swerved away from town and through the forest. Tall trees with interlocking branches rose so high they nearly blocked out the sun. Flowers and plants Kagome had never seen before grew in abundance everywhere. After awhile of walking it occurred to Kagome since she herself had never seen the kinds of floral that grew in such abundance here – not even in pictures in her high school botany class - then maybe no one from her time had seen plants like these. Flowers grew in the underbrush and in the leaves of trees in every color. It was so beautiful Kagome felt she could sit forever in the flowers and-

"AAAGH!"

Suddenly the ground fell out from underneath Kagome and she was falling. She felt her heart leap into her throat and she let out another scream as her arms immediately shot out reaching for something to grab onto.

InuYasha caught her and the next thing Kagome knew she was clinging to InuYasha's arm off the edge of a rocky cliff. She looked up at InuYasha leaning over the side of the cliff surrounded by pretty flower bushes. With the exception of InuYasha's arm there was nothing on Kagome's end to grab. Once again, InuYasha's quick reflexes had saved her life.

"Stay. On. The. Path," InuYasha said through gritted teeth as he pulled her up.

Kagome looked around astonished. The bright flower bushes marked the edge of a dangerous cliff. A dangerous cliff she almost went over. And the worst part about it all was she didn't remember going anywhere near the flowers.

"I-I-I'm sorry. I'll…be more careful," she said at last. Kagome sighed. In her life she had been kidnapped - not once but several times! - nearly sliced in half, shot with arrows, chased by the undead, survivor of several fires, once or twice her soul was nearly stolen, and was nearly eaten by several different demons. The whole nine yards for a damsel in distress. She had secretly been hoping that accidentally walking off a cliff was one thing she wouldn't have to be rescued from.

InuYasha saw the confused expression in her eyes and laughed to himself for a minute. Kagome looked at him even more confused than she was a minute ago. She'd never seen InuYasha go from being so serious to angry to relaxed so quickly. She estimated the whole event had probably only been a couple minutes.

"The flowers naturally draw people to them. They were planted there specifically to lead unsuspecting teenage girls off cliffs," he stood up and looked at her and smiled.

Kagome stared at InuYasha. Then she stared at the flowers on the bushes. Then she looked back at InuYasha some more. He was joking! Maybe the flowers did more than just draw people toward them like maybe mess with half-demon's personalities.

"Get up! You look dumb sitting there!" InuYasha finally growled.

_Ah, _she thought, _there's the impatient InuYasha we all know and despise!_ Kagome stood up - wiping the dirt from her skirt - and got back to the path.

"Just don't look at the flowers. Don't even think about them. Keep your eye on the path in front of you and that's it."

"Aye, aye, captain," she mumbled to herself.

"Kagome!" shouted InuYasha with his voice full of exasperation and a little disbelief.

"What?!" Kagome hissed back.

She felt his hand grip her wrist. She noticed he was staring at her with his accusing golden eyes. She felt there was a little extra air blowing against her foot than there had been a moment ago and automatically looked down. She realized she had one foot in a pink and purple flower bush and the other hanging off the cliff.

"Oh."

" 'Oh' is right!" shouted InuYasha as he dragged her back on the path, "You're walking in front of me for now on!"

Soon after Kagome, InuYasha, and Kilala trailing behind them, entered a clearing. The flower bushes had stopped and the trees had thinned enough to let in rays of sunlight. Straight ahead of them was a cottage.

Kagome glanced at InuYasha, "Inu-"

"GET DOWN!"

InuYasha pulled her to the ground as an arrow sailed over their heads.

"Hey! What's the big idea?!" InuYasha shouted. He was talking to a figure that had come quietly out of the cottage armed with bow and arrow only moments before.

Kagome, on the other hand, could only hear InuYasha shout because said InuYasha presently had all the strength in his left arm pressing her face into a pool of mud. "InuYasha…" she mumbled to the mud

"Stay back, Demon!"

InuYasha jumped to his feet, "You're Setsuna! You know me. I'm-"

"I know you are a demon! NOW STAY AWAY!"

"Okay, okay. Relax Setsuna. Remember me? I'm-"

"InuYasha…," hissed Kagome still face down in the pool of mud. She looked up at him with eyes flaming as her clothes and face were now a colorful combination of several shades of brown and green.

"Er… Kagome?" he mumbled weakly.

"Sit," she hissed with enough venom dripping from the word to make Naraku grab all his poison insects and cower in a very dark corner.

BAM!!

The dust around the InuYasha shaped pit had barely settled when a tall, white haired demon woman pushed Kagome behind her.

"Stay back, maiden!" the demon woman said, "Many thanks in containing the demon, but I will deal the finishing blow!" The woman cocked an arrow in her bow and aimed into the InuYasha shaped pit.

"Hey," said Kagome annoyed yet slightly surprised, "You can't shoot him!" Kagome reached out and grabbed the top of the demon woman's bow and yanked it back. The result was the arrow soared from the bow up into the sky and hitting a giant demon in the wing who happened to be flying overhead on a leisurely fly.

The giant demon bird came crashing down at them uprooting trees and sending many smaller, cuter demons into epileptic fits. Dramatic tears streamed from the creatures bulging red eyes as it screamed, "Setsuna!! You helped my mother! Why would you shoot me with your arrow?!"

In the midst of all the crashing, epileptic fitting, and screaming InuYasha stood up rubbing his temples, "What the hell is going-" was all he got out.

30 minutes later…

"There you go, Nasalump! Everything's all better!" declared Setsuna happily. She patted the spot on Nasalump's wing that an arrow had been in 25 minutes ago.

Despite the damage caused by a falling 80ft demon bird of prey, things weren't really that bad. No one was seriously injured. Least of all the white haired demoness Setsuna, who had remarkably reached safety, at least, five miles away next to a calming brook before one could scream, 'Agh! That 80ft demon bird is gonna fall on me!' and then it actually happen.

The bird demon - that just so happened to tower over Setsuna – looked at her gratefully, "Last year you helped my mother and now me. The eagle clan owes you much." And with that said Nasalump jumped into the air and flew away leaving nothing but a monster whirlwind in his wake.

After the wind died down Setsuna reached up and flattened down her hair before tuning to look at Kagome and InuYasha, "Now who are you again?" she asked calmly.

Kagome and InuYasha stood together with their backs to the cottage.

InuYasha pointed an accusing finger at Setsuna, "I told you already! I'm InuYasha! INU! YASHA! How could you even forget me?"

Setsuna rolled her eyes, "Obviously easier than you might think, _Inu._ _Yasha_."

"I'm your own brother!"

Kagome snapped her head around to look at InuYasha, "_Brother?!"_ Kagome echoed. She looked between the two and wondered how she didn't pick up on the little detail that they looked exactly alike.

Setsuna had the same gold eyes and long silver hair that seemed standard in the family. Her silver hair ran to the back of her knees and a twisted braid hung over her right shoulder. She had pointed ears like Sesshomaru, but, unlike Sesshomaru's, her ears were weighted with several different mismatched silver earrings, the most prominent being a big, golden hoop earring hanging from her left ear. None of the earrings seemed to be from the same pair. A few had jewels embedded in them and Kagome saw one small silver star with a thin chain that ran from the bottom of her ear and connected farther up to a tiny moon. She was dressed in a gentle, white, silk fabric under a dark purple michiyuki, overcoat, with red trim. Her hakama pants had the knees ripped out of them showing her scraped and dirty legs and the material was shredded at the bottom of the hakama. A tiny leather bag hung from a thin rope that was tied around her neck, and on the similar rope belt around her waist she had more leather bags and a few dried herbs. She wore what you'd expect from someone living on their own in the woods but there was something untrusting behind Setsuna's comfortable personality. It wasn't just that when she walked there was a nervousness in her step. Or when the wind blew at her big, open sleeves one could see a jagged blade strapped to each of her forearms. Or if you looked carefully you could see how her strong legs were covered in old healing ointments and clawed scratches. Maybe it had something to do with her eyes. How they were the same gold as InuYasha's and Sesshomaru's yet so different at the same time. Somehow they were keener than InuYasha's and deeper than Sesshomaru's.

Setsuna snorted and crossed her arms, "I only have one brother – and you are definitely not him! – and the only other person in this world who could be called 'my brother' is no longer _of_ this world. He died _decades_ ago."

InuYasha's sizzling temper suddenly died like a confused - yet extremely cute – puppy who thought he was following the scent of food, but inexplicably finding himself trapped in the 'slicing and cutting room' of a dog food factory.

"Eh?" muttered InuYasha.

Setsuna grinned happily and laughed at the hopeless expression on InuYasha's face, "Hey, don't sweat it," she elegantly flipped her long braid over her shoulder only to have it fall back into place when she cocked her head at InuYasha, "I know how you absolutely wanted to be my brother, but, hey, look at it this way, that's one less family member you have to worry." Then Setsuna turned on Kagome, "And who are you? Some poor damsel in distress kidnapped from her village by this lunatic?"

InuYasha's eyebrow twitched, "_Lunatic?!_ Who's calling who the lunatic?"

Setsuna's eyebrow twitched in the exact same motion, "What? Was what I just said to complicated for you, _Inu_. _Yasha_. Maybe I need to pound some sense into that sausage you call a brain!"

InuYasha's left hand gripped the hilt of Tetsuaiga sluggishly, "Fine with me, but don't think I won't be afraid to hit you just because you're a girl."

Meanwhile, Kagome was growing impatient. She glanced from InuYasha and Setsuna. Despite what either of them said she was convinced they were related. Not only did they look enough alike to be twins but also they had the same incompetent temper and two-second attention span.

Kagome sighed. This conversation was going nowhere.

"Hey, InuYasha," Kagome whispered.

"Not now, Kagome. I'm busy," hissed InuYasha without taking his eyes from Setsuna. Then it dawned on InuYasha what he just said and he warily turned his head to face her, "Er…Kagome?" he muttered hoping she had gone into a three second coma while he said those last words.

No such luck.

"Sit, boy."

WHAMM!!

InuYasha slammed into the ground at full speed. Kagome ready to launch into an angry lecture but in the time it took her to blink Setsuna was standing over the InuYasha shaped crater giggling. She looked up at Kagome, her gold eyes twinkling like a malicious demon child, "That's amazing! That's the trick you did before wasn't it? Do it again! Do it again!" Setsuna chanted before falling into another laughing fit.

Kagome stared at Setsuna' sudden transformation in personality and wondered if the girl was schizophrenic or just mentally retarded.

"Do the… 'Sit'" – THUNK! – "command again?" she asked. "Oh, wait… Sorry InuYasha!" she said after realizing what she'd done.

Another force of overactive gravity slammed into InuYasha and he groaned miserably in his hole.

Setsuna seemed to be having the time of her life. She bent down beside the InuYasha pit and poked InuYasha in the back. He grunted with each poke.

"Wow! This hole is four inches! Four inches!" Setsuna looked back up at Kagome, "What's the deepest hole you've ever gotten?"

Kagome put her index finger to her mouth and sat down across from Setsuna, "Well… I think Shippo measured one about three feet before."

Setsuna cocked her head and gave Kagome a sly look, "C'mon, 'about three feet'? Is that all?"

Kagome giggled, "Okay, well this one time I brought a ruler from home – just for this purpose - and well… we measured one that was 3.6 feet!" The girls squealed with laughter. "And then there was this one time he was being really difficult. He was carrying this huge boulder over his head and-"

InuYasha raised a twitching hand out of his hole and dropped it next to Kagome's knee, "Are you two done yet…?" He gasped pulling himself shakily out of the hole, his face covered in mud.

Setsuna smiled at InuYasha and then eyed Kagome, "I was wrong about you, Damsel. You aren't in distress at all. In fact, you might have even been the one doing the kidnapping."

Setsuna stood up and brushed the dirt from her pant legs, "So, my dominating damsel, what brings you to me?"

Once again, Kagome was caught off guard by Setsuna's swift change in personalities. Cantankerous. Childish. Collected. Kagome glanced at InuYasha who was still recovering and was now putting all his attention into popping his back.

"First of all," began Kagome, "my name is Kagome." When Setsuna said nothing Kagome continued, "We have a friend, Miroku. He's in a bad condition. There's no one left who can do anything for him."

There was silence. Kagome hesitantly looked up at Setsuna towering over with gold eyes staring down at her with an unreadable ferocity.

"Why come to me?"

It was InuYasha who spoke up, "Setsuna, you can say what you like, but even you can't change the past. I'm your little brother no matter what you say. And, well, you're the best physician in Japan," InuYasha smiled, "I remember when we were kids, I fell into that poison patch. Real poison, Kagome, I didn't have a chance. I must have only been about six years old at the time and I shouldn't be alive now. A Half-demon, demon, human, no matter what you are a six-year-old's body isn't built to stand that much poison. But Setsuna dragged me out of there and had me healed by nightfall. Setsuna, I'm sorry I left. Things sort of… got complicated and before I knew it I'd never returned. But, this guy Miroku, he's doesn't have a chance and if there's anyone left who can save him it's you."

InuYasha looked up at Setsuna and saw she was crying. How long had it been since he'd seen her cry? Was it really the day Mother died?

Setsuna slipped to the ground like her legs had become too weak to support her any longer. Her arms hung loosely at her side and tears ran from her gold eyes down her cheeks.

"InuYasha," she said, "I thought you were dead. I just woke up one morning and you were gone. I didn't know what happened to you. I-I thought you were dead!" she moved her hands to wipe away the tears streaming down her cheeks. "Mama told me to protect you because you were so young. On her deathbed she told me to protect you! And you were just gone! I was so scared, I thought I'd lost you too. And until before I thought you were dead. I didn't know you'd left! I didn't know… That last night was the last time I saw you…" Setsuna reached out and grabbed the sleeves of InuYasha's fire robe and pulled herself into his arms. She hugged him like she'd never see him again.

And InuYasha hugged his sister back.

"InuYasha," she whispered, "You grew up."


	4. Memories

**Disclaimer: **_Me_: watashi wa InuYasha own dewarimasen.

_Lawyers_: You're still doing the bad Japanese thing, huh?

_Me:_ Yeah. 

_Lawyers_: You should study harder.

**Author's Note: **Hahahahahahahaha!!! I bet you all thought you'd never hear from me again! It's been… months. I got the next chapter out only because I've got writer's block in my Harvest Moon story, the story I created because I had writer's block for this story. I guess that means it's time to roll up the sleeves and dig through the dirt.

I'm really sorry for such a long delay. I didn't want to get this chapter out until it was the best I thought I could get it. And I finally made it! Time to see if it's best is any good . It's got some good moments. The one thing I really don't like about it is this chapter is so long! It's the longest chapter so far. My eyeballs are about to go permanently cross-eyed this is so long. (I'm joking! Please read my story! Your eyeballs won't go cross-eyed!)

**Part IV: Memories**

"_Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Why are we doing this?" _

_It was a short, grubby man who spoke the words. The short man was a farmer and beside him was a much taller friend who worked as miner. _

_His friend made no answer._

_The two men made their way through the forest surrounding their small village. They took special care not to look at the colorful bushes of flowers on their right. In a decade's time a path would be forged to their destination but until then the two men had no choice but to struggle against the trees and underbrush pulling at their bare legs._

"_I just don't like the idea of seeing those demon children," muttered the short farmer as he smacked away a tree branch, "Damn it! They have to live this far out!"_

_The taller miner said nothing. He made his way quietly behind his friend as he clutched the bloody cloth in his arms. It was a child's red jacket. _

"_If you ask me, I hope the jacket belongs to that demon kid. Better them than one of us. But that's just my opinion if you ask me-"_

"_Well nobody asked!" shouted the tall miner finally. He knocked the last branch out of his way and suddenly they were there. _

The trees ceased and before them was a little cottage sitting contently in the middle of the clearing. The flower bushes on their right had ended some feet before and therefore so did the deadly, hidden cliff. Or at least the dangerous part of it. Soft sunrays glided through the treetops and settled upon the cottage…and a young girl. The young girl was a demon's child. Maybe a year into her teenage years. She was bent over on the first step of the cottage, crying. Her white hair hung down in her face and hid the tears streaming down her cheeks.

_She didn't look up at them. Not even when the tall man collected his courage and walked across the clearing to her. But both the men were willing to bet she knew they were there._

"_Lady," the tall man spoke gently._

_Slowly the young girl raised her head from her hands and looked up at him. Her face was puffy and dirty. Her gold eyes were swelled. Her white hair was blinding in the rays of the bright sun. The gold eyes of the girl met his blue and she didn't look anywhere else. She didn't look at the red jacket he held out to her. She didn't look at the farmer inching towards them. She didn't look at the sky where a giant winged demon of the eagle clan was soaring overhead. She looked at him with eyes full of hope, swelled with tears._

"_I know not what ails you child. But I think I may have a clue to your tears," the man nodded towards red jacket he was holding out to her. This time the young demon child dropped her gaze to it. _

"_This was found behind my property. By the side of the river," the farmer's gruff voice said as he approached them, "Is this jacket your brother's?"_

_Slowly, Setsuna reached one little hand toward the garment. The tears were starting to stream down her face with a new force. The little jacket was caked with blood and mud. Dried sand and clay was wedged into the folds and seams. _

"_I-It's got his scent…" she sobbed. Gently she lifted the jacket out of the tall man's hands and held it to her chest, "I-I w-woke up… and he w-wasn't here!" Her tears ran down her nose and dripped on the jacket, "I thought maybe… he went for a walk! But when he didn't come home - I-I've been searching and searching! InuYasha!" _

_The tall miner took a step away from the grieving girl. She was almost screaming now._

"_Hagrid, c'mon. We should leave now," it was the tall man who said it and his eyes darted between the shorter farmer and the girl holding the jacket._

"_Hagrid!"_

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Wow! I hope there's enough left over!" giggled Setsuna as she passed InuYasha a bowl of soup and grabbed another one for Kagome, "InuYasha, I wish you would have given me some kind of warning you were alive and coming! I could've made something really nice. Kagome here you go."

"It wouldn't have mattered, you're a terrible cook," muttered InuYasha. He ate sparingly from his bowl and his eyes nervously darted across the room.

"What? Me? A terrible cook?" Setsuna asked with a winning smile, "Well maybe I didn't get all the entrails cleaned out of that bowel. I don't get guests for dinner very much and I usually use that bowel to hold all the crap I cut out of demons."

InuYasha looked at his sister for the longest time then he stared at the soup he'd been eating, "You're lying," he accused.

"Am I?" she smiled as she sat down between Kagome and InuYasha with a bowel of her own, "Oh, Kagome don't worry! Your bowel is okay."

Kagome laughed nervously. She'd been staring solemnly at her bowel and wasn't really listening. She was thinking of Miroku. Setsuna had agreed to go see him, but they hadn't left immediately like she expected. Her stomach growled and Kagome forced herself to eat.

"Now what is this of your friend?" Setsuna asked, "Miroku was it? Let's say we leave tomorrow morning."

"That's too long! We should leave now. Setsuna, we can eat later," hissed InuYasha.

Kagome all of a sudden felt more alert. She pulled herself up a little straighter and glanced at Setsuna out of the corner of her eye. Her smiling expression hadn't changed, but something seemed to shift in the atmosphere.

"Haste isn't always the quickest method, InuYasha." She said the words with subtlety, but the presence could be heard in each syllable.

She lifted her head from the meal she had scarcely touched and looked at them. Her gold eyes screamed with spirit as the soft edges of her smile were scrupulously curved upwards with attentive manipulation, "Neither of you have eaten in some time. You both are weary. InuYasha, you get fidgety when you're hungry and angry when you're tired. You've done that since you were a child. And Kagome, I saw you rubbing your head earlier. Are we having headaches? I also noticed your hand slightly shaking when you reached for the soup bowel I handed you a moment ago. Then there's the fact your stomach is growling yet you're not eating. Classic signs for humans who haven't eaten in awhile. Exhaustion too."

InuYasha and Kagome stared at her. Although her analysis was correct and both of them knew it; neither of them said anything.

Setsuna cocked her head to the side and added under her breath, "Of course a blind man can tell you two are - plain and simply - dead tired."

InuYasha fought back an urge to fidget with his chopsticks as his temper fumed a bit more. His sister was right, of course, he knew for a fact that Kagome and he had scarcely eaten in the last 24 hours and no one slept with Miroku in death's doorway. But it didn't stop him from arguing with her, "So we may be a little exhausted but we don't have time to rest! Miroku's dying! Every second-"

"If he can't wait a couple hours he's already beyond my help!"

Nobody said anything.

Despite the fierceness in her voice Setsuna was slightly moved. She was staring downwards and the swoops of her white hair hid the amused smile on her lips. _They must really be a close group, _Setsuna mused to herself, _the slightest hint at their friend's life and they both go deathly quiet. Not to shabby coming from the half-demon who once claimed he hated all humans._

"We left him near a village called Sakiho. Its south of here," muttered Kagome.

Setsuna looked at her and for the fifth time that hour wondered about the relationship between her brother and the young girl quietly eating her soup in front of her. _He's gone for 57 years and shows up on my doorstep with this young woman. Like hell they're just friends._

Setsuna turned her gold eyes onto InuYasha, "I'm assuming one of you had the sense to leave someone with him. Anyway it can't be helped now. We'll worry about the details later. Enjoy your meal and get some rest. You'll need it."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"_InuYasha-chan, I want you to wait right here. Play in the grass, okay? I'm gonna go in this building and buy some things we need for dinner. I'll only be a second."_

"'_Kay Setsi! We can race home when you're done!"_

_Setsuna laughed, "You can't beat me, Shorty. I'm the fastest runner in the north!" She lightly pushed the now four-year-old InuYasha down on the soft grass, "Now stay."_

_The young InuYasha laughed and watched his sister make her way towards the shop. It was their first visit to the village without their mother. InuYasha still wondered how she was doing. There were a lot of women in the village talking. He didn't like how they would come up to him and tell him his mother was dead. They didn't understand. And when he tried to tell them it wasn't true they would either call him a liar and get angry or hang their heads and walk away. It was strange for him to always explain his mother wasn't dead and he'd started to avoid the women of the village so he wouldn't have to explain it to them again._

_Suddenly Setsuna stumbled out of the shop and fell on the ground. InuYasha saw her and giggled but he quit when he saw a big human man come out of the shop after her._

"_What's wrong with you! I was just trying to buy some rice for dinner!" he heard Setsuna shout._

_InuYasha's ears twitched and he could hear the big man's reply, "Your money's no good here. Get out you miserable bitch." Then the man turned around and walked back inside. The store's banner reading "Welcome" flapped in the breeze._

InuYasha stayed where he was as he watched Setsuna walk toward him with her head down. He looked around and saw there were several people on the dirt road watching them. He felt a little embarrassed but the worry for his sister overwhelmed everything else.

"_Setsi, are you okay?" he asked when his sister had neared, "Did you get that from falling?" InuYasha meant the large bruise forming on her jaw. A trickle of blood was running down her chin and she wiped it away with one clawed hand._

"_Um, yeah. Clumsy me," she muttered under her breath. She took InuYasha hand, "Lets go home, kid." _

_InuYasha looked back at the building, "But can't we go somewhere else for rice?"_

"_I don't think…anyone will sell us rice now."_

_It wasn't the first time for either of them to get that reaction in the village. But it was the first time they realized how much harder life would be when there wasn't a human in the family._

"_But," whispered the young InuYasha. He tried to argue, but didn't know what to say._

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"It's a town now," stated Setsuna as she sorted through several jars with strange liquids and dried herbs, "Since mining took off the village flourished into a town. A _lot _has changed."

InuYasha silently mumbled an inaudible response and continued to pick at his soup.

It was the first moment alone the two had in over 57 years. Setsuna was going through what she wanted to carry with her and placing different tools in a shoulder bag. Kagome had gone to sleep in Setsuna's futon. She was only a few feet away and had her back turned to them so they didn't know their talking had woken her up, but she didn't say anything and only listened to them.

_A lot has changed_, thought Kagome. She knew what Setsuna was saying. In their travels they had come across plenty of half-demons. The story was always the same. The half-demon forced out of the town to live on their own. Unaccepted by demons _and_ humans alike. Abused by humans and hated by the demons. InuYasha was one of the few – if not the only – half-demon that had managed to obtain strength equal to the strongest of full demons. It made it easy to forget it all once happened to him too.

Setsuna quietly dropped what she was putting together and went over and sat by InuYasha, "Do you remember when you said that I was a weakling for wanting to live at the edge of this village?"

InuYasha's head shot up and he looked at her with a shocked expression, "I said that?"

A nostalgic smile wrapped itself around Setsuna's mouth, "Right after you called me a coward. It was one of our last fights. Right before you… died. I guess you really didn't die, though. What happened there?"

InuYasha shrugged, "It was a long time ago I can't really remember anymore."

"You're lying again. Was it something I did?"

The next silent moments were excruciating, as InuYasha thought of an answer, "No," he finally said, "I suppose it was this town. I got tired of waiting for it to accept us. I wasn't like you, and I couldn't wait for the humans in this village to get used to us or accept us or whatever you were expecting them to do. They treated us like we were something threatening; like we deserved to die. But we were just kids. All you wanted was to live peacefully. I'm sorry I said that… about desperately living… but, damn it, Setsuna. Some of the reasons they didn't trust us might have been my fault, but after all these years nothing has changed. You say it has, but you still live here. Set away from the people of this town. You help them and they use you."

"InuYasha…" whispered Setsuna, "Is that what you…?" Then she closed her eyes and shook her head, "No. You'll see for yourself. Everything changes. I remember when you were small and you swore up and down you hated all humans and would never trust them. Look how drastically that's changed."

Setsuna quickly got to her feet and walked back to her things.

"Setsu-" InuYasha quickly clamped his mouth shut when he quickly turned his head and saw something through the open door, "What the hell is going on with them?" he muttered under his breath.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"_Ouch! Setsuna! That hurts!" InuYasha jerked away from his older sister. He was eleven-years-old and a battered mess._

"_InuYasha, don't move so much it's hard enough to set this as it is," hissed Setsuna. _

_InuYasha clenched his teeth as he tried to keep still for his sister who was setting a hand made sling on his left arm, "I-Is it broken?" he finally asked._

_Setsuna grunted, "It might as well be!"_

_InuYasha said nothing and tried to sit still._

_Setsuna sighed, "It's not broken InuYasha. Besides, you'll heal quickly. How did this happen anyway?"_

_InuYasha said nothing. _

_Setsuna sharply twisted InuYasha's arm backwards. Only slightly. InuYasha cried out and kicked his sister in the kneecap. Although Setsuna managed to hold tight to him. _

"_Don't ignore me, kid. What happened?" hissed Setsuna._

_InuYasha turned his nose up at her and stated, "Same thing that always happens. _They_ started it."_

"_What did you do?"_

"_Why are you blaming me?! They attacked me! Those damned humans hate us! They turn up their noses when we need help and hurt us every chance they get!"_

"_We've been through this, InuYasha. They've believed all demons to be their enemies for a very long time and if we never give them reason to believe differently they never will. It's hard, trust me, I know. But this sort of thing doesn't happen over night. Not even over years sometimes." Setsuna finished her work on InuYasha's arm, but he didn't acknowledge it._

"_How can you side with them?" InuYasha attacked, "Hagrid, our good neighbor, got his pals together and they beat me with shovels! They hurt my arm and didn't stop till I was coughing up blood!"_

_Setsuna didn't move for awhile, "I wasn't siding with them, InuYasha. We'll go over there tomorrow when your better and we'll speak with them-"_

_InuYasha jumped to his feet and walked away from her, "You think that'll make things fine? Just talking things out?" He turned and faced her suddenly, "You're the only one who wants to live with humans. You're the only one not facing facts! You're just a coward! You're afraid of the demons so you come here and live with the humans. Because no human will ever be as strong as a demon. But when the time comes to stand up for yourself you let them treat us like this. You're a weakling for living here! You're a weakling for wanting to live here!" InuYasha took a few steps for the door._

"_InuYasha!" Setsuna almost shouted the words. Then she sighed and let her voice calm down before answering, "InuYasha, I understand. Really, I understand what you're saying and going through. These people are stubborn and blind. But I still want to live here. This is where Mom lived. And this town is where she met Dad. And no matter how bad we're treated here things will be so much worse trying to live with the demons. I really think given time these people will get used to us. If we keep showing them they're wrong about us-"_

"_Shutup!"_

_And InuYasha stormed out of the house. Setsuna waited twenty minutes then went after him. She later found him sitting at the nearby river and he walked peacefully back to the house with her. Neither of them ever saying a word. _

_In about a year's time a rainy night will come where InuYasha will run to that same spot by the river. But this time his sister wouldn't know he slipped out and a strong demon would intercept InuYasha there. The demon will attack InuYasha. Then thinking him dead, knock him unconscious and beaten into the raging river. InuYasha wouldn't find the strength to climb out for miles. And 57 years would pass before InuYasha would return home._

_He left nothing behind him except his bloody jacket ripped from his shoulders and his older sister with big ambitions in her head._

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"What the hell is going on with them?"

Setsuna kept her back to InuYasha as she whispered the words quietly under her breath, "You'll see InuYasha. This isn't the same place it was."

InuYasha never heard them, nor was he meant to.

Kagome heard the change in topic and set up, momentarily forgetting she was supposed to be fast asleep. InuYasha didn't notice, and Setsuna smiled at her and only said, "Hello there." Kagome jumped at the sound of her voice and gave her a shaky smile. Setsuna only laughed and not another word was spoken about it.

InuYasha placed his bowl down and stood up, "Setsuna," InuYasha called, everything he was going to say before completely vanished from his mind and now the spectacle outside pulled at all his curiosity.

Kagome got up from the futon to see what InuYasha was looking at but he was already standing in front of the door and she couldn't see past him. She did however see something InuYasha didn't.

She saw Setsuna fold her arms across her chest and smile proudly. It was the kind of smile people used when they knew something you didn't, and were taking a lot of pleasure out of not telling you about it.

At the edge of the clearing a group of kids had gathered. There were boys and girls in the group, all of which had greasy black hair and dirty clothes.

Setsuna saw them too and got up and moved over to the door.

Once she was in view, the group of children who had been nervously standing around jumped with enthusiasm.

"Look there she is!"

"Miss Witch!"

"Miss Witch! Miss Witch! Come out and run with us!"

InuYasha turned and looked at his sister, "Miss witch?" he asked curiously.

A weary smile came over Setsuna, "The demons in this area don't terrorize the town like they do in other places. Every once in a while a demon will wander near town, but it's a rarity and they're usually quickly dispatched. As a result children don't see the leftover hate. They don't really care that I'm a half-demon. All they really know is that I sit up here and make potions all day. Like a witch."

"Miss Witch! We wanna race! We'll beat you this time!"

"I've gotten a lot faster! Miss Witch!" Shouted one little boy in the front, "Watch me!" The boy squatted in a runner starting position and the children around him cheered him on. A few took positions beside him. Then they were off in a full sprint running across the clearing for the cottage.

Setsuna stepped out of the cottage with a broad smile on her face. Kagome took her place at the door.

After a moment the running children slid to a halt at the beginning of the steps to the cottage.

"Well?" panted the boy who shouted first, "Who won?"

Setsuna clapped her hands together, "Sorry Yoshi, but I think Kiki beat you," she motioned to a red faced girl in pigtails.

"What!" protested Yoshi.

"Who took second?"

"Um, I'd say Shishi took second. Then the rest of you got here pretty much at the same time."

A little girl with long black hair who seemed to be Shishi hugged Kiki and the two girls laughed.

"You're just goin' easy on 'em 'cause they're girls, right Miss Witch?" asked Yoshi.

"Of course not," protested Setsuna then smiled broadly at them, "What are all of you doing here?"

"We wanna race!" shouted Kiki.

"That's not it! We came out here with Grandma!" said another little boy.

"Well, I came out here to race."

"Hold it. Your grandma is out here?" asked Setsuna. She glanced back at the path at the waiting children.

"She's waaaay back there!" said Kiki stretching out her arms.

"She walks very slow," whispered Yoshi.

"You guys, you shouldn't have left her…" Setsuna's voice trailed off.

"Miss Witch, who's that?" It was Kiki who spoke and she was staring up at InuYasha with awe.

Setsuna smiled and put her hand on Kiki's shoulder, "That's my brother InuYasha-"

"Is he a witch too?" interrupted Yoshi.

"Er, what?"

"NO! He's a guy so that'd make him a wizard! Right, Miss Witch?" stated Shishi.

Setsuna giggled, "That's exactly right. The lady standing next to him is named Kagome," Setsuna glanced at them still standing at her doorway. Setsuna spoke up, "I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask you guys if you can watch these children for a moment."

"W-what?" they both said simultaneously.

Setsuna was already turning around, "I'll only be a second! I have to go look for these kids' grandmother."

"You're going to run?" asked the boy called Yoshi, "I want to come to!"

Setsuna gave him a sly smile and made a big show of taking a runner position. The children around InuYasha and Kagome began to whisper as the children at the edge cheered wildly.

Setsuna moved at the same moment InuYasha spoke.

"Don't tell me," interrupted InuYasha, "You still claim to be the fastest runner in the north?"

Setsuna did a false start. She moved like lighting for a second and then came to sudden halt almost falling forward when InuYasha spoke.

Setsuna whipped around to face her brother with two fists on her hips, "I am the fastest runner in the north!"

InuYasha only snorted. Kagome looked at him and he smiled as if to say, "Watch this."

Although, Setsuna missed the smile on InuYasha face and turned sharply away from them, "Yeah," she muttered rubbing her hands together, "Well, you just watch this."

And in a flash Setsuna was gone. A small gust ruffled the sleeves of InuYasha's fire rat robe and disturbed Kagome's black hair. It took her less than a second to leap the clearing. Kagome was taken completely off guard. She barely saw the woman move. The children were apparently used to it because they all wasted no time in cheering her on, despite the fact that she had completely disappeared from their vision. Kagome looked at InuYasha. She'd just seen Setsuna move faster than she'd ever seen InuYasha move. Or Sesshomaru for that matter. The only other person she knew who could move nearly that fast was Koga of the wolf tribe. And he had jewel shards embedded in his legs.

It was the children who shocked her out of her thoughts. By now the kids at the edge of the clearing had all made their way toward them. There was about ten or so in all.

"Miss Kagome, you're a witch too, right?" asked a little girl with blue eyes in a bright orange summer kimono.

"Of course she's not a witch! If she was she'd have white hair like Miss Witch and her brother!"

"But look at her strange clothes!" offered a little boy in the back, "She's got to be a witch!"

"Miss Witch doesn't where strange clothes like that!"

The children swarmed them more than any other mob of children in the past had ever done, as for InuYasha he wasn't backing down. He simply folded his arms and let the children gather. It was working quite well until the tiny little girl called Kiki grabbed a hold of InuYasha's long sleeve and tugged. When InuYasha looked down at her she gave him a toothy grin and said: "I like your pretty hair."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"_Hagrid you asshole! I dragged you kicking and screaming down here!" the tall miner took a step back from the wailing child in front of them. Setsuna hadn't moved from the cottage's first step. Her young claws pierced the red fabric in her brother's jacket. Tears were still streaming down her cheeks as she sobbed. _

"_I'm leaving! You can get into this can of worms on your own!" shouted the miner as he finally turned to leave. He jogged across the clearing anxious to get away from the screaming half-demon. He only looked over his shoulder twice._

_Like Setsuna, Hagrid hadn't moved. He only watched the helpless girl scream with his piercing, emotionless eyes. He let her wail for three long minutes. _

_Then the gruff man sat down beside her._

_Sunlight drifted through the trees and settled on a lowly, one-roomed cottage in the middle of the clearing. The sun sparkled off a teenage half-demon's white hair like snow on a winter mountaintop. Beside her whispered a short farmer in a soothing, gruff voice. His rough, dry hands gently hugged the girl's shoulder and he rocked her in a lullaby motion._

"_Shhh… Shhh… Child, no more crying…"_

_Tears came to the edges of his eyes, but no one was there to see them._

"_You'll be okay…"_


End file.
